Baseball is a children's game. It might not always seem like it — the sport has been mired in gluttony over the years, with MLB owners getting richer and richer with every passing season.
But it is sport. As such, it belongs to the youth. And that will be on display as the fountain of adolescence streams on Little League baseball fields the world over.
The Little League World Series can offer a brief reprieve from the scourge of consumerism that has come to define high-level sports. Seeing children rollick in the meadow, unfettered by the pressures of taxes and heartache and deductibles (what even is that!) can replenish the soul.
Little League operates in this pocket. And yet, so much of the game that we love is shrouded in mystery. Here's a simple one: Just how old are Little League World Series participants?
Here's what you need to know about the age rules surrounding one of sport's most cherished tournaments.
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How old are Little League World Series players?
Much like those pushing for Eagle Scout certification, Little League World Series players are draped in the enigma that is adolescence.
It's a weird time for most, full of all sorts of uncomfortable contradictions. Things can get even more confusing when you're tasked with hitting 70 mph fastballs in front of the peanut gallery.
And yet, it is in this environment where these players, aged 10 to 12 years old, succeed. Youngsters become legends under the shimmer of August sunshine, enveloping playing grounds in a steady pour of home runs.
Some of the game's biggest names have emerged out of the annual tournament. Surely, more will in the coming few years. Still, it's an event for the kids. And it's that childlike wonderment that should shine through over the course of the best week in baseball.
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Little League World Series age rules
Currently, the Little League World Series (and its sister Little League Softball World Series) only permits players aged 10 to 12 years old as of Aug. 31 to participate in its tournament. That hasn't always been the case; as recently as 2018, 13-year-olds took part in the festivities.
In 2015, however, the LLWS' organizing body announced its intention to ban teens from all the fun. They change the league's "age determination date" to Aug. 31, prohibiting 13-year-olds from taking part in the excursion.
The move came with a two-year moratorium. However, the change eventually passed without a hitch. And things have been smooth sailing ever since.
"I think the change makes a lot of sense," said Andrew Solomon, the coach of the Pearland, Texas, team that made it to the 2015 U.S. championship. "They are aligning kids with the peers that they will eventually play high school ball with, and keeping the older kids off that smaller field."